


His name is Red and he watches from the stands

by clefairytea



Series: Peaks and Valleys Adjacent [9]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Clefairy's Holiday Fic Request Fest, Galar-chihou | Galar, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:40:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21891322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clefairytea/pseuds/clefairytea
Summary: When Blue accepted to an offer from former Champion Leon to come to Galar to do some exhibition matches for the new Battle Tower, he had just been sort of imagining a smaller Unova. He didn’t relaly know much about Galar – it was fairly small, after all, and didn’t really have a particularly close relationship to either Kanto or Alola. Mostly, all that came to mind when somebody said ‘Galar’ to him was fish and chips, wizard novels, and Dynamax battles. It was only the latter, really, either he or Red were particularly interested in.It turned out there was a lot more to see in Galar than he’d anticipated.--Red and Blue explore Galar.
Relationships: Ookido Green | Blue Oak/Red
Series: Peaks and Valleys Adjacent [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1200031
Comments: 19
Kudos: 617





	His name is Red and he watches from the stands

**Author's Note:**

> Another holiday fic request! Blue and Red exploring the equivalent of my glorious home country.
> 
> Content warnings for over-stimulation and melt-downs.

When Blue accepted to an offer from former Champion Leon to come to Galar to do some exhibition matches for the new Battle Tower, he had just been sort of imagining a smaller Unova. He didn’t relaly know much about Galar – it was fairly small, after all, and didn’t really have a particularly close relationship to either Kanto or Alola. Mostly, all that came to mind when somebody said ‘Galar’ to him was fish and chips, wizard novels, and Dynamax battles. It was only the latter, really, either he or Red were particularly interested in.

It turned out there was a lot more to see in Galar than he’d anticipated.

Red had been absolutely thrilled by the Wild Area, eyes going wide the second he learned there was an entire huge dedicated area in Galar, untouched by modern civilisation. Nobody was even allowed to build or grow crops there – people could camp as much as they lived, but anything more advanced than a tent and a Pokémon Ranger would turn up to stop you in a second.

They’d almost spent the full first three weeks in Galar in the Wild Area. Blue enjoyed it at first, but he was a man of culture, and there was only so long he could spend in a stinky tent, eating roots and berries that Red foraged, watching his boyfriend slowly regress into weird mountain man mode. Pikachu, likewise, was in her element – her fur grew out to suit the Galar weather, and she was raggy and wild, sharpening her teeth on stone and chasing down Corviknight to fight.

Sylveon was absolutely horrified. She kept mewling at Blue in an indignant way, staring up at him as though she couldn’t believe the horrific conditions she was being forced to endure. Being _outside_ was bad enough, but for long periods of time, bathing in the river, not a pastry or grooming parlour in sight? Blue was certain she wouldn’t speak to either of them ever again if this didn’t end soon.

Eventually, Blue put his foot down and bundled Sylveon into his arm, declaring that he was travelling north to Wyndon whether Red followed or not.

 _And_ he would be using their tickets to watch this year’s Gym Challenge finals.

That, if nothing else, convinced Red to come with him and (thankfully) _shave_.

Wyndon was bigger than he’d expected. Of course, compared to Lumiose or some of the bigger cities in Unova, it was still relatively small. Still, the little cobbled alleyways and the old buildings lent the city something unique. It also looked like there was a _lot_ of interesting boutiques and clothes stores, but he could do that when Red was off doing something else.

The important thing, after they’d checked into their hotel and gotten a much-needed shower and night’s sleep in an _actual_ bed, was the stadium.

“Says here the current champion is this twelve-year-old girl from way down south. Real name’s Gloria, but apparently makes everyone call her Sword,” Blue said, reading from his Silphone as they walked alongside the Wyndon river, carrying a coffee in his order hand. Red leaned over him to look at his phone, arm around his shoulders. The champion’s league card showed a young girl with an Appletun in her arms, grinning goofily into the camera beneath a hodge-podge of different filters and borders. Her league number, 420 (some kind of Galarian joke, he didn't really get it), stuck out in huge letters at the bottom.

Red leaned over and scrolled down the phone to show her team. Blue put his hand over the screen.

“Hey, hey, hey, won’t it be more fun to see her team for the first time in battle?” he said. Red made a face but didn’t argue any further, rubbing his chin.

As they approached the stadium, Blue began to quickly see a problem emerging. There were huge crowds approaching the stadium. Most of them were dressesd up – at the very least wearing a scarf with their favourite trainer’s colours on it, but many of them will full costumes and face-paint. It looked as though a lot of them had started drinking (It was 1pm!), and most were already shouting or singing in Galarian Unovan Blue was honestly struggling to follow. Outside the stadiums were stalls selling trainer strips and scarves.

A fight had already broken out in front of a burger van. Not between Pokémon.

“Right, well, we did hear Galarians were intense about their battles,” he said, watching as the two trainer’s Pokémon pulled them apart. Blue glanced across at Red, who had already turned tense, all expression on his face vanishing.

He’d seen last year’s Galar league battles on television. The stadiums had looked crowded and noisy there – especially when the chanting and singing started – but he’d really underestimated them. They weren’t even inside yet and it was already chaos.

“Hey,” he said gently. “We can head back to the hotel and catch it on the ‘telly’ if you want.”

Red gave a thin smile at the Galarian word but shook his head. Blue chewed his lip.

“So you think you’ll be okay in there?”

Red shook his head. Blue sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair. More people were coming down towards the stadium, a couple of the older ones glancing their way, clearly half-way to recognising them. Blue gently took Red’s arm and steered him into a small alleyway, letting him lean against the wall. Pikachu followed and leapt up into Red’s arms, cuddling into his chest.

Blue waited, fiddling with his phone and replying to things he hadn’t had enough signal to sort out in the Wild Area (emails from Gramps, texts from Lyra, requests for homework help from Moon, photos from Daisy).

After a while, he was interrupted by Red gently taking his hand.

“Hm? Feeling better?” he said. Red’s eyes looked much clearer, and his hands had steadied considerably. He nodded.

“Great. I’m guessing you still don’t wanna go in there?” he said. Red shook his head.

“But don’t wanna go back, huh?” Blue said. At that, Red only shrugged, but Blue knew for a fact he desperately wanted to see a Dynamax battle up close and personal. Just watching it on the TV in the hotel room wouldn’t cut it.

He thought for a minute.

“Right, ok, I got it,” he said, and grabbed Pidgeot’s ball from his belt, releasing her in a flash of pale light. She shook out her feathers and glanced around, clearly surprised to be released in a tiny alleyway. Blue tapped on the Mega Ring attached to his wrist.

“I know we’re not battling, but you’re a little small for both of us, girl,” he said. Pidgeot leaned forward and nibbled at his hair in an affectionate sort of way, cawing gently. She stepped back and with another flash of light shifted into her Mega form, tossing her head back.

“Right,” Blue said, pleased with himself. “How about we just go above the stadium? Should be able to see just fine.”

Red looked at Pidgeot and, with a wry smile to himself, typed something into his phone.

 _Illegal_.

Blue rolled his eyes and climbed onto Pidgeot’s back.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but you’re kind of a legend,” he said. “Nobody in the Galar police is going to arrest you and risk an international incident.”

Red tilted his head at him, clearly sceptical. From the stadium, there was the roar of the crowd and the distant sound of somebody talking into a microphone.

“C’mon, we’re going to miss the first battle,” he said. “Are you coming up or not? I don’t care either way – I’m going.”

Red definitely rolled his eyes at that, but accepted his hand and climbed onto Pidgeot’s back. Within moments, they were up into the air and circling above Wyndon Stadium, where the first trainers were coming out for the first round of the finals.

“Best seats in the house, pal,” Blue said, as Red rested his chin on his shoulder. “Although we may need to fly fast if the cops come up here.”

Red shrugged, giving Pidgeot a pat and wrapping his arms around Blue’s middle. Blue supposed he had a point – it would be a very fast Corviknight who could outspeed a Mega-Pidgeot, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Do you think there's a Black-Eye Friday equivalent in Galar? Do you think last Friday before the Pokémon league championship battles people just go absolutely fucking mental?


End file.
